Fionnphort
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Fionnphort | |
  Fionnphort shown within Scotland |
|
| Population | 80 (approx.) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| Council area | Argyll and Bute |
| Lieutenancy area | Argyll and Bute |
| Constituent country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | ISLE OF MULL |
| Postcode district | PA66 |
| Dialling code | 01681 |
| Police | Strathclyde |
| Fire | Strathclyde |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| European Parliament | Scotland |
| UK Parliament | Argyll and Bute |
| Scottish Parliament | Argyll and Bute |
| List of places: UK • Scotland | |
Fionnphort is the principal port of the Ross of Mull, and the second largest settlement in the locale (its population is approximately 80).[1] Fionnphort is the base of the ferry service between 'mainland' Mull and Iona. It is also home to a museum about Saint Columba, a shop and restaurant - all of which capitalise on the traffic of tourists and pilgrims to Iona. Fionnphort also has a beach (with a distinctive split granite boulder in the centre that is classed as an erratic and deposited here by an ice age glacier),[citation needed] car park and cemetery.
From Fionnphort, the entire east side of Iona can be seen that includes the Abbey and main centre of population. A road that turns off the main road to the left just after the village starts takes the traveller down to the island of Erraid, mentioned in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Kidnapped and accessible to walkers at low tide.
Historically, Fionnphort has been a fishing village offering religious pilgrims access to Iona; more recently, it has facilitated the movement of stone from a quarry in the vicinity. The granite which was quarried was highly prized for its density and hardness. Fionnphort still has a thriving fishing industry, noted principally for shellfish, especially crabs and lobsters, almost all of which are exported in a large container truck to Spain and France.
In April 2008, residents finally had the opportunity to use a cash machine, putting an end to a 100-mile round-trip to Salen villagers previously had to endure. Sandy Brunton, the local postmaster said that residents are claiming they now have the best view from a cash dispenser anywhere in Britain: "As you stand at the ATM, you have a view of Iona to the west, Coll to the north and looking east you can see the island's only Munro, Ben More."[1]
